Baby Adiyat Hossain went into cardiac arrest after suffering “extreme whiplash” injuries on June 10, 2022 – he remained in intensive care until life support was switched off four months later.
Dad Mohammed Kabir Hossain, 48, was found guilty of his son’s manslaughter and today (November 28), he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Justice Nicholas Lavender told Hossain: “I’m not sure you intended to harm Adiyat, though I’m not sure you gave any conscious thought at all to the risk of harming him.
“I am sure that, selfishly, your main thought was your desire to silence Adiyat. In that you succeeded, you silenced him forever.”
During the trial James Dawes KC told the jury that Hossain’s wife, Fatema Mansur left the family home at 12.04pm to go shopping.
Adiyat had been well that morning and was asleep in his cot when she left.
Hossain had been alone with Adiyat at their flat on Long Lane for 13 minutes before he made a panicked phone call to Ms Mansur at 12.17pm.
Hossain then phoned 999 at 12.23pm, telling the operator: “He was ok. I just go to the toilet and come in from the toilet, he’s in the bed sleeping and I find out he can’t breathe.”
In police interviews Hossain maintained that he did not shake Adiyat.
He said: “I fed Adiyat and placed him in his cot. I later went to check on Adiyat and noticed that the way that he was resting was unusual.
“I noticed he was floppy and unresponsive. I telephoned for the ambulance and was very frightened and scared by Adiyat’s condition.
“Adiyat has been loved and cherished by me and my wife. I have not done anything to harm my child. I have no idea how my child has sustained any of the injuries. I deny any allegations in connection with my child.”
But on day 11 of his trial he told the jury that he shook Adiyat in an attempt to revive him having already found him unresponsive.
Justice Lavender said: “I’m sure that your claim that you shook Adiyat in an attempt to revive him was a lie. It was not said by you at the time and I’m sure you only said it when you realised your original explanation would not stand up to scrutiny.”
The judge commented that Hossain had then delayed by six minutes before phoning for help.
Ms Mansur said in a victim impact statement: “I feel very sad and upset. As a mum I’m heart-broken. I know what I lose and I will always think about Adiyat.”
During the trial the jury heard that Adiyat was shaken so hard he started to bleed within his eyes, around his brain, and he stopped breathing.
The prosecution alleged that Adiyat was had also suffered bodily injuries on at least two if not more occasions prior to June 10, including six fractured ribs, fractures to his left and right shoulder blades, and a fracture in his right arm.
Hossain, who has lived in the UK for 19 years, will serve up to two-thirds of his sentence in custody before being released on licence.
